.:Chapter 03:.
"God, I don't think I can eat anymore," Carlos groaned. He placed his hands no his stomach, pushing his chair back and stretching out his legs. His stomach bulged out over the top of his jeans. Stephanie, who was sitting to his side, leaned over and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek, patting his stomach with her free hand.
"Looks like you have a food baby," Jo teased.
"If that's the case then you better not be around when it's born," James remarked. The table erupted into loud laughter and groans of disgust and James had a rain of balled up napkins thrown his way. Katie, who was used to the guys' sense of humor, just rolled her eyes. She placed her hands in her lap as she looked around at the table. A table that hadn't been so full in the past three months, she was surprised that the restaurant had enough seats for everyone. Granted, the adults; Gustavo, Kelly, Mrs. Knight, and Ronan McGuire were sitting at the bar, talking and laughing with each other, enjoying their own conversation. Katie's eyes scanned the table, looking at all of her friends, smiling as she watched them all, it was funny how they all had managed to instinctively pair up over the years; Carlos and Stephanie, Logan and Camille, Kendall and Riley, James and Jo, Dak and Rhuben, Noah and Lizzie, Patrick and herself, and then Sydney, who was the youngest, and WayneWayne, who was currently between girlfriends, were the only single ones at the table.
Katie smiled to herself as she thought about the commotion that had been created while they were at the airport to pick them up. She hadn't seen that many flashes of photography since she had been at their concert in London. But taking one step into the airport and she was already blinded by a camera flash. Katie instinctively moved into Kendall's side, trying to shield herself from the onslaught.
"Man, who ever thought we'd be big enough to have paparazzi following us around?" Logan asked, holding tightly onto Camille's hand as they navigated through the airport to wait for their friends to get off their flight.
"I did!" James stopped, letting go of Jo's hand to pose for a picture. After a few solo shots, he pulled Jo into his side so there could be pictures of the two of them. Katie smiled when she noticed the tight-lipped smile on Jo's face. She definitely wasn't happy with the cameras constantly being pointed in her face, no matter how much of a good spot she was.
Katie, as always, had to knock him down a peg. "This isn't paparazzi," She protested, then pointed over to one of the men that was kneeling at their side, focusing his camera for another picture. "This is from Just Jared Jr. and other websites like that. None of you guys are famous enough for paparazzi." Lizzie, from Katie's side, loudly cleared her throat. "Except, Dak, I mean."
"Thank you." Dak grinned waved for a camera before making a gesture that he wanted to keep going.
The photographer dutifully stepped out of his way and the group continued to surge forward. Katie looked around the airport and watched as other passengers who were coming from their flights or waiting for their own. A few glanced their way; otherwise, they weren't getting a lot of attention. Hopefully it was because the flight was so late at night; the fans didn't catch wind that they were going to be there. If there were fans swarming around, they wouldn't be able to get anywhere.
"To be honest, I don't think I ever saw this much buzz for anything this big," Katie muttered.
"Please." Lizzie waved a hand. "Wait until you get to the Grammy's or something upscale like that, there are photogs everywhere." Lizzie then grabbed onto Katie's hand and turned to Kendall. "We're going to the bathroom, be right back."
"Ok," Kendall said. "We'll be by the security gate when you guys get back."
"Make sure you have your phone with you," Mrs. Knight added. "Just in case you get lost or something." Katie tried hard not to roll her eyes. She was sixteen, not six; she knew how to have her phone on her whenever she went somewhere. Instead, she gave her mother a smile and a nod. Mrs. Knight looked worried for a moment, and then shook her head with a smile. "Don't be too long."
"We won't, Mrs. Knight," Lizzie said, already tugging Katie towards the bathroom. "Promise. Be right back."
"Whoa!" Katie's feet nearly slid out from underneath her when Lizzie pulled her harder, practically dragging her into the bathroom. "Lizz, I don't have to go!"
"Of course you don't," Lizzie said with a roll of her eyes. "I just said that so we could check to make sure our makeup looked Ok." Once in the bathroom, Lizzie marched right up to a mirror and leaned in close, opening her green eyes wide to check her mascara. "Didn't you see the way Dak rolled his eyes? I do this all the time. It gets on his nerves." She shook her head lightly before motioning for Katie to move up to the mirror as well. "In fact, I'm sure all the guys get annoyed when their girlfriends do this. And trust me, they all do."
Lizzie pulled a tube of mascara out of her pocket and ran it over her lashes a few times, keeping her mouth and eyes wide open as she did so. Katie laughed at Lizzie's reflection, and then leaned into the mirror herself. She studied her face, nice and sweet, a little round, the baby face that she already had. She was sixteen years old and was constantly mistaken for about eleven or twelve because of it. Her makeup looked OK; nothing had smudged since they had driven to the airport. Thankfully Lizzie had been able to use Dak's truck while Dak rode in WayneWayne's car along with the former bad-boy, that way they would have the truck to themselves as they went to the restaurant.
Katie started to blush at the thought.
Lizzie noticed and grinned at her friend. "Aww, that's so sweet." She cooed. "You're thinking about your 'welcome back' kiss aren't ya?" Katie made a strange gargling sound, turning away from the mirror, facing Lizzie. Her own hazel eyes widened, she could feel her face reddening even further. "What? That's, like, the staple of being in a long-distance relationship. The welcome back kiss."
"Is that as stupid as Kendall's and Jo's 'goodbye kiss' thing?" Katie's upper lip curled for a moment.
As much as she loved her brother, there were times where she wondered if all he thought about was how to be more romantic than his previous relationship. His desperation to have one last 'goodbye kiss' with Jo before she had left for New Zealand kind of scared her, but he had, what she thought, been in love with her, so she, kind of, understood it. She didn't get love in general, knowing that she, herself, had never been in love. For a while, she didn't want it. Who wanted to act all…sickeningly sweet with one person for the rest of your life when you could use that time to make money? If it was possible to love money, then she loved it and no one and nothing else.
"No, this is more romantic," Lizzie said. She gave a wistful sigh, pressing a hand to her chest. "You haven't seen the one you're in love with for months at a time, and it's the first embrace you have when you get back." She waved her hands. "So what if you're in an airport, your brother is there, and there are hundreds of people taking your picture? It's worth it."
Katie snorted, crossing her arms over her chest. "Is that why you've been so giddy today?"
Lizzie giggled to herself before throwing a wink at the mirror. "Of course." She brushed her hair over her shoulders and Katie watched as every strand of her blonde hair fell into place. She then turned and glanced at herself in the mirror. She hated to do this, to compare herself to her best friend, but she couldn't help it. There were obvious beauty differences between the two of them; Lizzie often got mistaken for being a couple years older than seventeen, rather than younger. The only time she was treated like a kid was when her brother got increasingly uncomfortable with guys looking at her and her boy obsession. Katie called it an obsession, Lizzie called it a fascination.
"Noah's a good kisser," Lizzie continued. She grinned. "Better than I originally imagined, anyway."
"Good for you," Katie murmured, still looking at her reflection.
Lizzie sighed loudly and turned Katie away from the mirror. "You look hot, Katie. Really." Katie's upper lip curled for a moment. She wasn't used to hearing that, that she was hot. Not even her fans called her that, yeah, it was strange to know she had fans when she didn't early do anything. She was just Kendall's sister who was their number one fan and liked to be able to go see their shows and support them when she could. She was always called 'cute' or 'sweet', not 'hot' or 'beautiful' or 'sexy'. Actually, she probably wouldn't have liked being called sexy so much. The idea made her shudder. "You just need a little bit more lipgloss." Lizzie reached into her other jeans pocket and pulled out a pink vial.
Lizzie use her teeth to take the cap off, and spread the pink, thick, liquid on to Katie's lips. When instructed, Katie rubbed her lips together before grabbing a paper towel out of the dispenser and blotting her mouth. As Katie threw the towel away, Lizzie reached out and fluffed Katie's hair a little bit. Then she smiled, placed her hands on Katie's shoulders, and leaned in, giving her a loud kiss on the cheek. "You look perfect, darling," she said in a Parisian accent.
Katie pretended to scowl, wiping off her cheek. "I hate it when you do that," she murmured.
"Aww, you love me and you know it."
"Yeah, sure." Katie put her arm through Lizzie's. "Come on, we're going to miss their flight and I'm already anxious as it is." Now Katie dragged Lizzie out of the bathroom and through the airport towards security. She wished they could be able to stand outside the gate, but that wasn't allowed anymore. In a way, she was grateful for it, knowing she'd probably do something stupid if she was right there when Patrick stepped off the plane.
What did he look like now? Was he tanner? Did he prefer to wear his glasses now? Was his hair up in spikes? Was it down to his shoulders? She liked the way it looked down to his shoulders, long enough so it gave him a warmer look compared to his punk rock image. Would he kiss her when he saw her? Would that be awkward? Most likely, it'd be her first kiss anyway…he was her first boyfriend and he would be her first kiss… Katie glanced over at Lizzie, who allowed herself to be pulled along with her. Of course she hasn't had any problems with being kissed.
Katie pushed the thought out of her head and joined her brother and his friends at the security gate. Katie wasn't paying too close attention to what was being said, Dak, WayneWayne, James, and Carlos were talking about something big, their hands moving animatedly as they talked, Jo, Camille, and Stephanie were talking to Logan and Kendall while Kendall fidgeted with a bouquet of daisies in his hand—which was typical of him, Katie noted—and Mrs. Knight, Gustavo, and Kelly were standing off at the side, one eye on the teenagers, the other on the photographers as they hovered around.
Katie stopped and smiled for a few pictures, otherwise she ignored them the best she could, trying to detach herself from the situation. Her nerves were getting the best of her anyway. Should she hug Patrick when she saw him again? Give a high-five? Should she be the one to go in for the kiss?
Why does growing up have to be so hard? Katie agonized. Things were a lot easier to understand when she was younger; all she cared about was comic books, making money, buying things, and hanging out with her brother. Now that dating was thrown into the mix, things were more complicated than ever.
"Hi!"
"Hey!"
"Oh my god, it's good to see you!"
Katie slapped her hands over her ears as shrieking filled the air and she turned around to see Jo, Camille, and Stephanie had practically catapulted themselves onto Riley and Rhuben Jackson-McGuire to give them hugs. Before she knew it, cameras were flashing at higher rates than before, the air was filled with chatter and laughter and hugs were being exchanged around her. Katie watched her brother as he held his arm behind his back, smiling at his girlfriend before using his free hand to give her a tight hug.
"You look great," he said to her, smiling wider than Katie had seen him the past couple of days.
"I looked tired, actually, but thanks, Hockey-Head, I needed that," Riley said, her blue eyes flashing with happiness. Her eyes then moved to his arm. "So, did Carlos break off your arm trying to get food or…?" With a flourish, Kendall presented her with the bouquet and Riley beamed. "They're beautiful, Kendall. Thank you." Riley stepped forward and gave Kendall a medium-length kiss before hugging him again.
Katie smiled, a little surprised. Riley had never been a big fan of PDA and she was adamant that she wasn't the kind of girl that liked to get flowers, saying she had allergies, no matter how much she liked them, but there was no mistaking the happiness in the Australian girl's face. Katie knew she would like it, especially since Kendall had taken Katie with him to figure out how to get the bouquet wrapped with a girl's touch. She was pleased to see it had gone over well. Katie then turned to Dak to see how he was faring with Rhuben, Riley's twin. On the way in, she hadn't seen him with anything, but as he watched him, he gave her a good looking kiss before pressing his forehead against Rhuben's and the two talking quietly, she saw he had given her a stuffed bear. Where he had suddenly produced it, she wasn't sure. But him kissing her in public surprised her, too, as the Jacksons girls both weren't big fans of PDA at all—so she just chalked it up to the excitement of seeing them after being gone for three months.
She could understand that, though she didn't particularly think she was going to get a kiss. She had hope. But she didn't think she would.
"Looking for me?"
Katie turned the other way and came face to face with Patrick Jackson-McGuire. Katie felt herself starting to smile as she took in him, not sure what to do otherwise. He had his hair up in his familiar spiky style. Instead of wearing contacts, he was wearing glasses; he didn't have his piercings in his lip, and was wearing a yellow button down shirt that hung off one shoulder, revealing his tattooed shoulder from the white wife-beater he was wearing as well. Patrick's smile widened the longer Katie didn't say anything.
"I knew that I had this affect on girls sometimes, but I didn't think I'd make you speechless," he teased.
The joke caused Katie to break out of her thoughts and roll her eyes, reaching out and punching Patrick on the shoulder. She immediately dropped her hand as Patrick chuckled. There goes the moment to potentially get her first kiss. "Please, you're not that good looking," she joked back.
"I am," Patrick denied. "And you can admit it on your own time if you're not ready to do it now." He shifted his backpack on his shoulder before leaning in to give her a warm hug. Katie wrapped her arms around him and hugged him back. He had definitely worked out while he was away, she could feel his muscles tight against her back, holding her in place. She liked that feeling.
"So, you've been working out, huh?" Katie took a step back, looking at him. His intense gaze, his sharp blue eyes, made her look away for a moment, blushing again. She was doing that a lot today. Katie suddenly became self-conscious, running her hands on the sides of her jeans. "Have you gotten into any more fights?"
Patrick's smile dropped for a moment and he looked away from her. She knew he was remembering how long he had been in the hospital, how long he had been on crutches after a sprain and some bruising, how he had to lie to his fans about what happened, knowing he could get a lot of backlash and trouble for it. When he turned back to her, that familiar smile was back. "Only if they were scheduled through the gym, to practice my kickboxing and stuff. Otherwise, we had been on a constantly moving schedule." He started to snap rapidly, to show her what he meant. "I'm sorry I didn't call as much."
"It's ok!" Katie said quickly. "It's not like…I was waiting by the phone or anything. I had plenty to do." She brought up a hand and scratched the back of her head, looking around. Patrick cleared his throat and crossed his arms over his chest. This is so awkward.
Thankfully, she was saved by Ronan speaking up. "We're kind of blocking the area, why don't we start going to the restaurant?" He turned to Gustavo and smirked at him. "If you don't want to pay, I'll be glad to do it."
Gustavo's eyes narrowed. "What's that supposed to mean?"
"I'm just saying that if you want to focus on eating all of the food compared to paying for it…" Ronan shrugged. "You're going to have a heart attack with either option, so why don't I just-"
"Can it, McGuire!" Gustavo snapped, pointing at him. "I'll have you know I've been strictly following my diet with no problems. And I can be generous when I want to be! So the food is on me!" He stuck his nose in the air and led the group out of the airport.
"You tricked him into that, didn't you?" Sydney asked, looking up at this father.
"Of course," Ronan replied and gave him a high-five.
Katie turned to follow them, but stopped when Patrick said her name. She turned back around and sat him standing behind her, a curious expression on his face, holding out his hand. Katie smiled and grabbed onto it and the two followed everyone out of the restaurant.
They had held hands the whole way to the restaurant, but since then he hadn't made a move to touch her. Not that he really had the chance, Katie wanted him to sit next to her at the table, but Lizzie maneuvered him to sit across from her, explaining it was better to look at your date when going out to eat as opposed to sitting next to each other. That didn't help the butterflies that erupted into Katie's stomach each time she caught Patrick's gaze or when he would move his foot and it'd bump against hers. Katie thought about doing the same to his foot, but talked herself out of it. She couldn't help but notice everyone else being comfortable around their boyfriend and girlfriend, when was she going to get to that point.
They had finished desert and was just talking to each other when Katie felt Patrick bump her foot again. Looking up, Katie noticed Patrick widen his eyes slightly, and then tilt his head back. She got the hint immediately and stood up. "I'm going to check out the arcade," she said, pushing her chair back loudly. "Maybe they have that Capcom-Marvel game." Katie quickly moved away from the table and walked over to the small arcade that was situated in the corner of the restaurant. She ran a hand through her hair and started to pace back and forth.
What was going to happen now?
Katie was still pacing when Patrick joined her in the arcade. She turned around, moving so fast that she crashed into him. Patrick chucked, wrapping his arms around her to steady her, a charming smile sliding onto his face, tightening his grip of one arm around her waist. "Either you've gone crazy without us around or it runs in the family and I'm just starting to notice it." His accented voice, so close to her ear, sent shivers down Katie's spine.
"Please." Katie pushed herself away so she could look up at him. "Your family is the crazy one. I don't think I've met anyone that's as rambunctious as you guys."
"We get bored easily, so sue us," Patrick said. He rolled his eyes, and then shrugged, dropping his arms from Katie's waist. He scratched the back of his head. "So I didn't get to tell you, when we were at the airport, that you look really good day." His cheeks flushed a little.
"Really?" Katie frowned a little. Good. Just good. Not amazing. Or beautiful. Or hot. Or sexy. But good. "Thanks."
"No worries." He shuffled his feet for a moment, and then cleared his throat, looking at her, confidence now oozing out of his pores. "Anyway, I just wanted to see how you were doing. How LA has been…how the guys have been…" His eyes lit up and he started to dig through his pockets. "Oh! And I have something for you around here somewhere."
"You didn't need to bring me back anything," Katie said quickly. She had nothing for him, now what was she going to do? "Money, sure, I'd love that. But still…" she smiled as Patrick laughed, feeling the anxiety roll out of her body. She always felt comfortable around him, and being able to make him laugh as easily as he made her laugh was good enough for her.
"Yeah, but when I saw this, I knew you had to have it." Patrick finally reached into the bottom pocket of his cargo shorts and pulled out a tiny, silver bracelet. He gently handed it over to her and Katie's eyes widened as she took it. The silver sparkled like diamonds each way she twisted and turned it, the intricate loops holding it together, the clasps help together with little infinity signs, looping all around the bracelet. "I hope you like it."
"I do," Katie said. "It's beautiful." She held it in her hand, scared to put it on in case she dropped it or her hands were shaking too hard. Katie lifted her gaze. "Thank you."
"You're welcome." Patrick smiled and reached out, pushing her hair out of her face. He gently cupped her cheek, rubbing his thumb over the soft skin. Katie's heart thumped against her breastbone so hard it actually started to hurt. She licked her lips in anticipation and continued to look at him. Patrick slowly started to lean in towards her, ducking his head as he did so. She felt his breath on her face, his nose bump against hers, and then-
"Katie, are you ready to go?"
Patrick jumped backwards and the two turned to face Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James as they stood in the doorway to the arcade. Katie bit her lower lip and looked at her feet, feeling her eyes suddenly well up with tears. Her stomach sank to her feet and disappointment radiated through her body. "Yeah," she finally managed to say. "I'm ready to go." Now that you've ruined everything, she thought. Keeping her gaze on the ground, she speed-walked out of the arcade. Rounding the corner, she nearly bumped into Riley, who had her arms crossed over her chest. The older teenage girl took one look at Katie's face and shook her head.
"Sorry, Kid, I tried to keep him from going in there," she apologized and Katie immediately knew she was talking about Kendall. "In a movie theater, it's easier to keep him rows away, but from an arcade…not even the temptation of a chocolate chip cookie dough sundae would get him to stop." She rolled her eyes, her upper lip curling slightly. "And you know he'd sell his soul for one of those."
"It's ok," Katie mumbled. "Not like we were doing anything anyway." Riley reached out an arm and wrapped it around Katie's shoulders, pulling her into her side as she turned towards the entrance of the restaurant.
"Still, I'm going to have a very…serious conversation with him." Riley gave Katie a wink.
Katie laughed, but she still felt her heart breaking a little bit. She sighed, tightening her grip around the bracelet in her hand.
Katie glumly rested her chin in her hand as she watched Kendall and his friends run back and forth across the beach, playing what looked like a mixture of soccer and football together. They obviously didn't care about getting sand everywhere or being out on the beach in a bathing suit where everyone could see them. Not even the photographers that were feet away were impairing them and their fun. But here Katie was, sitting on a beach blanket, trying to keep attention off of herself, and watching the four boys run back and forth across the sand for many reasons—one being that they were the only entertaining thing to look at, the other being that they were guys. Being a teenage girl in LA was hard enough when we got here. Why can't things ever be easy for me?
Katie wasn't made of stone, she didn't look at comic books anymore, and she was well aware of the fact that she was a girl, thanks to her monthly present. But growing up, she had never really considered the other three guys that she looked up to like extra brothers to be attractive. Now she was annoying herself with finding a good looking guy almost everywhere she went. What made it worse was the fact that she was too shy to say anything to any of them that could have potentially been interested in her. Not that she even really wanted them to be…
She had a boyfriend she liked a lot, and who had been close to kissing her and it had been interrupted. It happened only a couple of days before and she was still upset about it.
Katie sighed, running her hands over her face.
It was all too confusing.
Carlos was attractive in his own quirky way, you knew that he would do anything he could to make someone smile and laugh. He was so sweet that even if he was a bit overzealous with whatever it is he wanted to do for someone, it was all done with the best intentions at heart. Going to the gym with James now was doing wonders for his physique. Logan was attractive in a book smart way, normally Katie would find his smarts to be a turn off, it was something that really managed to bother her when she was growing up, and following the boys around, but she could see what the appeal was to other girls. Being intellectual and having some sense of maturity was something that any girl could want. And everyone knew James was the pinnacle of manliness among the guys.
He was the one that was the most outwardly appealing and Katie, embarrassingly enough, had found herself falling for him when she was younger, which was something that he, also embarrassingly enough, seemed to pick up on and tease her mercilessly about. She was glad that Kendall never caught on or else he would blow a fuse. She had only seen him lose his cool once and she didn't want to see it again.
Katie brushed some sand off of her leg and glumly watched as the guys continued to play their game. Beside her, her mother was sitting in her beach chair, a pair of sunglasses on her face, a book in her hands, and armed with a sunscreen bottle to have the guys reapply whenever the hour came up.
"Hey Katie, are you sure you don't want to play?" Kendall asked as he clumsily trapped the ball with his foot. He placed his hands on his hips, using a hand to shield his face from the sun, as he and the other guys turned towards her. "We aren't going to hurt you or anything."
"You said that the last time that you talked me into playing football with you guys," Katie reminded him, a cold edge t her tone. "After you promised that you weren't playing tackle football."
"I tripped!" Carlos threw his hands into the air in exasperation. It was a conversation that they had many times, usually whenever they tried to rope her into helping them with something. "I said I was sorry," he added in a kid voice, pouting slightly.
"And I had a black eye for three weeks," Katie shot back. She stubbornly shook her head. "It's not happening."
"Katie, why don't you play?" Mrs. Knight suggested, lowering her romance novel and turning to look at her daughter. "You haven't done anything but sulk on the beach since we got here." Katie let out a loud sigh, getting ready to remind her that she never wanted to go to the beach and that she would have had more fun staying back at the crib, but she knew it was useless. The day to go to the beach had been planned even before the Jacksons had gotten home, giving them time to catch up on their sleep, and some time for the boys, Katie, and Mrs. Knight to bond. They had the same conversation the whole way to the beach and it took everything in Mrs. Knight's power not to lose her cool and start shouting at her daughter. Katie could even see the tension moving back into her mother's face again and knew not to even try.
"Because I don't want to catch the stupids," Katie said with a sneer. "Every time these guys play a game and some girl walks by, it doesn't even matter what she's wearing doing, or if she's with a boyfriend, they all start pushing and shoving each other to try and look better to her." Katie threw her hands in the air. "And they all have girlfriends!"
"That's just being a guy, Katie," Mrs. Knight pointed out with a fond smile. "They're always trying to impress someone."
"No, that's just being stupid!" Katie huffed and got to her feet, brushing off more sand. I hate sand! It gets everywhere! She scowled at the sand that had managed to take up most of her towel. "They're always getting in the way."
"Katie, they already apologized," Mrs. Knight reminded her.
"Yeah, only because Riley practically forced them too," Katie point out. She did laugh a little though. Riley had kept her word and when the group had started to walk to their cars, Riley and Kendall had gotten into a slight argument about the boys intruding on Katie's private moment. She couldn't hear the exact conversation, but she could see it as a heated one as they were both glaring at each other, waving their hands, and sneering every now and then. Finally, Kendall said something that caused Riley to calm down, though she still looked a little suspicious, and Kendall had given her a kiss on the cheek, causing her to smile but still give him a warning look. Then when they had arrived at the crib, Kendall, Logan, Carlos, and James had all apologized.
She had forgiven them, but was still a little stung by it.
Katie got to her feet, brushing more sand off her legs. "I'm going to get something to drink!"
"Ooh, can you get something for me?" Carlos eagerly moved over to Katie's side. He stuck out his tongue and made a show of gasping for air. "I'm dying of thirst." Pulling his tongue back into his mouth, he thought for a moment. "Could you, pretty please, get me lemonade?"
"I'll just have water," Logan chimed in.
"Could you bring me a Gatorade?" James flashed her pearly whites in a smile.
Katie's scowl deepened. She opened her mouth to tell them where they could shove their drinks and Kendall, seeming to notice her distress, quickly jumped in to defend her. "Don't worry about it, Katie; we'll get something to drink later." He turned and gave the other three guys a sharp look and they all looked away from him, knowing how protective he was of Katie and how she was treated by other people.
"Thanks Big Brother." Katie beamed at him before sticking her tongue out at James, Logan, and Carlos. "I'll bring you back an ice cream or something." Katie took the money that her mother handed her and started to walk up the beach towards the food shack that was set up down the beach. As she walked, she looked around at the people that were all over the beach. Young and old frolicked with each other, laughing, talking, flying kites, making sandcastles, splashing in the water, dined in the restaurants that lined the beach and shopped in the many surf shops that were around. They all seemed to be having a good time, so why wasn't she?
She had to be the only person in California that didn't like to go to the beach.
"Heyyy, Katie!"
Katie turned around to see Victoria walking over to her, talking long, slow strides as she went, swinging her hips back and forth. Katie gave a half smile and a nod as she waited for the girl to reach her side. She was keeping her guard up; she never knew if Victoria was really, honestly, being friendly to you, or if she was waiting to shove you down a flight of stairs and laugh at your expense.
"Hey Victoria," Katie said, falling into step with the other girl. "What's up?"
"Not much, just planning a party," Victoria replied with a coy smile. "That's why me and the girls are here today. We figured that we could get some good party ideas and scope out some cute boys at the same time." She elbowed Katie on the arm as she winked at her. "Like those four hotties up the beach."
Katie's nose immediately wrinkled in disgust. "Ugh, my brother and his friends?" She mimed puking. "I don't even get why their fans think they're so good looking. Or their girlfriends for that matter. They're just so…them." Her cheeks immediately inflamed, realizing how much of a hypocrite she was.
"But they're hot," Victoria insisted. "Especially the tall one."
"James?" Katie tried not to reveal anything in her voice as she casually asked about him.
She sighed, knowing how she had a tiny bit of feelings leftover for 'the face' of the band. She didn't know any girl that didn't have feelings for him to some degree.
"Definitely," Victoria agreed with a dreamy sigh, pushing her hair out of her face. "He's always been my favorite." She pressed her hands together, tapping her fingers to her chin. "Do you think that you could introduce me?"
"I could but I doubt that he'd see you as anything other than any of his other fans," Katie said. She immediately cringed as the words came out of her mouth. She didn't have to look at Victoria to know that she had just insulted her, somehow. "I mean, with the guys and their younger fans, around our age, they have to be really careful. Gustavo tries really hard to make sure that they don't have a hoard of parents running after them in outrage." She shrugged. "That's why they can't kiss their fans on the cheek or anything unless they're the Worldwide girl."
"Don't worry, I can work my way around it," Victoria said mysteriously. Katie stayed silent. They got up to the line and waited for the people in front of them to be served. Katie glanced at Victoria out of the corner of her eye, taking in her attire. A white, strapless bikini that popped against her blonde hair and her tan skin. Of course she would look good in a bathing suit. Everyone in LA looked good in a bathing suit except her. Katie suddenly hated the beach even more. "And…if things work out, maybe I'll invite you to my party too. It's gonna be a blowout, my Dad is letting us have it at Tatou. Alcohol free of course." Victoria crossed her arms over her chest. "Everyone is going. Invite Big Time Rush for me, if you can convince them to go, then you're on the guest list for sure."
Katie chewed her lower lip. She wished that she could tell herself that she didn't want to go to Victoria's party…but she'd be kidding herself.
Victoria's parties were legendary for being the conversation topic of the year. And this was going to be her New Year's Party, the holiday that was already well known for being party central but now that Victoria was having a blowout that night, it was something that she couldn't miss.
Katie was above being a suck up, but she wasn't above going to a good party. And…she really wanted to fit in, in LA. We've been here for two years and I still don't feel like I belong here.
"I think I can work something out," Katie replied finally.
"Awesome!" Victoria cheered. She reached over and loosely draped her arms around Katie's shoulders, giving her a hug. "That'll make my party even more awesome! Call me later so you can get all of the details of the party, alright." She winked at Katie. "I have a special surprise for the night and I think that it'll be really fun." Giving a finger waver, Victoria turned on her heel and headed back up the beach, turning heads as she went.
Katie rolled her eyes up to the sky as she turned back to the shack. What'd I just get myself into? Katie stepped up to the shack and placed her order, getting drinks for everyone. She juggled everything in her arms and slowly turned around to start walking back to her mother, brother, and friends. As she went, she tried to figure out how she would convince the guys to go to the party. It shouldn't be too hard. Carlos and James are the ones that want to try and take over Hollywood party by party. Kendall would probably go…Logan would be harder to convince. He's so socially awkward when it comes to things like this.
Katie was so lost in thought that she didn't notice the guy with a surfboard tucked under his arm walk in front of her until she stopped short, letting out a cry of surprise. Hearing the noise, the guy instinctively turned and accidentally whacked Katie in the side with the surfboard, causing her to let out a yelp and drop everything to the ground.
"Ooh, glad I didn't catch you with the fin, or else I'd need to rush you to the hospital and god knows I wouldn't be able to go inside." Katie looked up and smiled at Patrick. He turned and shoved the front of his surfboard into the sand before crouching down and starting to pick up Katie's dropped drinks. "I'm sorry, Katie. I didn't see you."
"It's alright, really," Katie said. She dropped to her knees and started to pick up the other drinks that were out of his reach. "I wasn't even paying attention, thinking about too much stuff, I guess."
"Glad I don't have that problem," Patrick joked. He stood up, balancing the drinks in his hands. "I don't think enough to worry about it." Katie laughed loudly, causing him to give his famous lopsided smile. In a flourish, he rolled a can of lemonade from his hand and down his arm. He popped it up off of his bicep and caught it in his hand. "Your drink, milady." Katie laughed again, taking it from his hand. "So what are you doing here? You hate the beach."
"I know, but I got outvoted," Katie said. She rolled her eyes lightly. "Story of my life." She looked up when she heard the call of a seagull and watched as it glided overhead, turning as it headed out towards the sea. She sucked in a deep breath of the salty, sea air, listening as the waves crashed onto the sand. She liked the sound of the beach but didn't like the feel of it.
"I know the feeling," Patrick sympathized. He picked up his surfboard and carefully turned around so that he didn't her him again. "I typically get outvoted when it comes to the kind of desert that we have when we're out of ice cream." He bobbed his head. "And that's not the fight that brings out the most bloodshed, that's when we try to figure out which movie to watch on the weekends." He held out an arm and Katie continued walking back to the others.
"You should watch a horror film then, the blood would be symbolic," Katie teased. Her smile widened when Patrick laughed. Good, things seemed to still be going good between them, despite their near kiss being ruined. He didn't appear upset anyway. "Hey, um, have you heard of a place called Tatou?" Katie asked, turning to look at Patrick. He quickly turned away from her, using his free hand to scratch the back of his neck. "It's a nightclub or something like that. I've never heard of it."
"That's because Tatou is, like, the nightclub in LA." Patrick raised an eyebrow as he turned to her. "All of the biggest celebrities out there have gone at least one in their lives. And the place is fancy, and I mean, fancy. You have to dress up just to go in because there's a specific dress code that you need to follow or you'll be kicked out." He ran a hand through his spiked hair. "Cool dance floor, somewhat superior waiters, it's a pretty cool place." An eyebrow rose. "Why?"
"Because there's this girl at the Palm Woods School…her father rented the place out for a New Year's party and she invited me," Katie replied.
"I thought you didn't like anyone at the Palm Woods School," Patrick commented. "I mean…" he reached up and grabbed onto the lightning bolt necklace that was around his neck."You seem to complain about it enough."
"I complain about the guys that are there," Katie corrected him. Her upper lip curled at the thought of having to go back when the weekend was over. "They don't leave me alone."
"Get used to it, babe, that's what happens when you have a siblings in the industry." Patrick gave a careless shrug, dropping his necklace. It slapped against his chest. "You get more attention on you because they're famous." He shrugged.
Katie tried not to blush at the pet name. A part of her knew the endearing term was just for her, but…he was a flirt and there were girls that threw themselves at him all the time, which only added to her insecurities. Patrick liked girls and he liked to flirt, though he chalked it up to being nice. He referred to all his close female friends as "babe" or "sweetie" or "sweetheart" and every once in a while he would utter the word "honey" though he said it wasn't his favorite, as it sounded like he was married to the person.
Half the time she wasn't sure if he even noticed that he did it, most things came out of his mouth without a second thought.
…he always seemed to have a special look in his eye whenever he said one of the endearing pet names. The only way that she would make herself feel worse about it was when she would get too caught up in wondering why James never called her that, though the two were pretty close. If Kendall weren't her older brother, she was sure that James would be it; he was as protective as Kendall was, but it seemed to be more than a brotherly way.
At least she, kind of, hoped so.
Katie reached out a hand and shoved Patrick on the arm, not budging him in the slightest. That bothered her the most about knowing him, she met him when he was fourteen and now, almost eighteen, he towered over her and showed that he was stronger than her any chance he got.
Katie and Patrick walked back over the others and Katie passed out the drinks to everyone, who was now sitting on their towels listening to music, talking, reading a magazine, or looking through their phones. Kendall was the first one to notice them. "There you are, I was wondering where you got to."
"I got hit by an idiot with a surfboard." Katie rolled her eyes.
Patrick gave a short wave with his hand. "Guilty as charged."
"Hey!" Carlos's eyes lit up at the sight of their friend. He turned to Katie and took his drink before reverting his attention to Patrick. "What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be sleeping?" James, Kendall, and Logan all looked at him and even Patrick lowered his left eyebrow and raised his right one at the stupid question. "Oh!" His eyes darted over to the surfboard tucked under his arm. "Right."
"Yeah," Patrick said slowly. He smiled sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Yeah, we took the day off to get some rest but I snuck out." He reached into his trunks pocket and pulled out his cell phone, which was in a plastic sandwich baggie. "Hence the reason why my phone is off. But the waves were beauty and I couldn't miss it."
"I know, they're really rad today," James agreed. He shook his head. "I heard too late, didn't get a chance to bring my board."
"You can borrow mine, Dude," Patrick held the short board out for the older boy to take. "I have to jet soon anyway." He turned back to Katie. "By the way, is the party on New Year's Eve on New Year's Day or is it, like, around that time?"
"Why?" Katie looked at him out of the corner of his eye. Her lips curled. "I didn't invite you."
Patrick shrugged carelessly. "Eh, more hope than thought." He kicked at the sand, wincing when it landed on Mrs. Knight. He gave her a sheepish smile when she turned to look at him, missing Katie's blush. "Sorry, Mama Knight."
"It's ok," She replied, brushing herself off. "What's this about a New Year's Party?" She looked at Katie curiously. "Do I know who's throwing it?"
"A girl in my class at the Palm Woods School," Katie replied vaguely. "Her dad rented the place out and she invited, like, everyone." She started to dig her toe into the sand. "I was hoping that I could go."
"I don't know," Mrs. Knight hesitated.
She knew how rowdy Hollywood parties could get. When she heard about the ones that the boys threw in 2J while she and Katie were gone in San Diego, she had grounded them when they got back. She ignored all of James's protests, saying it was a 'right of passage' and they were 'just getting it out of their system' and didn't budge on the idea. Because of that, Katie had a bit of a tight rein put on her when it came to where she was going and who she was hanging out with, just so she knew that she wasn't getting in trouble.
"You know how I feel about this kind of thing. I'd like to meet her parents first and-"
"Hey guys." Katie gave a sweet smile, turning to the older boys. "How would you like to go to a new year's party?" She widened her eyes in a pleading look. "It's at this place called Tatou and it's going to be really fun and-"
"Tatou?!" James immediately came to life.
"What's Tatou?" Logan exchanged confused glances while James and Carlos started to slap each other on the arms in their excitement.
"I can regain my status as the Hollywood Super Party King of Hollywood!" Carlos cheered, punching the air. At Mrs. Knight's glare, he chuckled and lowered his arms. "I mean, I'll be the perfect guest. The complete perfect gentleman." He reached out and pulled Katie down onto his lap, giving her a tight hug. "We'll watch Katie like a hawk," he promised.
"And call me every hour so I know that things are going ok?" Katie nodded like a bobble head at Mrs. Knight's question. When Mrs. Knight fell silent, Katie stuck out her lower lip, forcing it to tremble as she still looked at her mother. A little more. Katie could see Mrs. Knight's face soften. "Ok, but you all have to be back by one at the latest."
"Oh, but we usually get breakfast after a New Year's Party, Mama Knight," Patrick spoke up. "Like, at The Nickle Diner, Blu Jam, or Waffle or something like that." He crossed his arms over his chest. "And then, typically, we find one house to sleep at and everyone crashes there." He looked at Katie out of the corner of his eye. "That's the sort of thing that we do back in OZ, too. I'm sure Ronan won't mind if everyone crashes at our place."
"Sounds good to me, Mom," Kendall added.
"Just as long as Ronan's ok with it," Mrs. Knight said.
"He will be, I promise," Patrick said quickly.
"Then, fine, just remind me when the night gets closer, that way I can figure out everything that's going to go on and so I don't have to continuously try to find someone," Mrs. Knight warned. "And I mean it. If something goes wrong, then you're all going to be grounded until you're thirty."
"Thanks Mom!" Katie grinned. She turned to Patrick and mouthed 'thank you' to him.
Patrick winked in reply before throwing up the peace sign, told James he could give the surfboard back later, and left the beach. Suddenly feeling warm, Katie picked up her own can of lemonade and opened it, taking down a large gulp. She didn't want to look at the boys, knowing the way that they were all staring at her. Risking a glance at her mother, she could see the smirk that was making its way onto her face.
Katie kept her gaze down in her lap.
"Why's your face so red, Katie?" James asked. She could hear the smile in his voice without having to look at him. "Are you sunburned?"
"Shut up!" Katie snapped.
A/N: Aww, Katie had her first kiss moment ruined. I'm sure it's happened to many girls so I knew I had to have it thrown in here somewhere.
So I needed the first four (technically three if you don't count the prologue) being all from Katie's POV. But the rest of the chapters will have Patrick's, Lizzie's, and Noah's POVs as well. So far, what I find the most interesting while writing this is seeing the older teenagers' relationships with each other from a set character's POV as opposed to it being omniscient third. It's just so cool in a weird way to me.
Hmm, I got an idea for a NoahxLizzie story. Don't know if I'll put it here in misc. or on fictionpress, just because it would focus more on the OCs rather than the canon BTR characters.
Cheers,
-Riles